Southend Linux Wiki Site

Introduction.

The purpose of this document, is to introduce Linux to novices. Written by a comparative novice, it aims (unlike other similar documents) to see it from a novice perspective. All sorts of fears can be incorrectly assumed, just because you have been used to doing something in Microsoft Windows® (MS-Win) and it is different (note: NOT DIFFICULT) in Linux.

So I'll talk a little about the system itself, common differences and finally, a recommended distribution (known as a distro) for novices.

The Linux system.

Linux® is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Torvalds ) a Finish software genius and initiator of Linux. Over the years since its inception, Linux has gathered thousands of talented programmers worldwide, that contribute to various parts of the system. As Linux is modular in its structure, almost any computer related software can be built providing you have the knowledge. It can be found in things as diverse as cash registers, mobile phones, embedded machinery controllers, routers, aircraft entertainment systems and all manner of other devices. It is arguably much more secure than some other systems due to its architecture and tends to not suffer from viruses or malware, although nothing can be considered infallible.

Differences.

The very first thing you MUST understand, is all Linux distros are "case sensitive". So even logging on to your favourite distro means you MUST take very careful note of how you constructed your password. Typing “Password”, is not the same in Linux as “password” and will result in a log-in being rejected.

When it comes to installation, you need to determine where on your hard drive the Linux distro will reside. This can cause a great deal of confusion and in some cases even cause the abandonment of the whole idea.

In MS-Win, you have been used to hard drives being allocated letters; C: D: etc. Linux uses a different nomenclature. Each hard drive is known as a device and uses a system of letters and numbers to be identified. The older IDE hard drives are identified as a “device” and “hard drive” and may be seen as something like this /dev/hda This would be the first hard drive (hard drive a) on your computer. If you had a second hard drive, it would appear as /dev/hdb and so on. If any of these hard drives has more than one partition, a number is added to the system. So for example, if our first hard drive has two partitions, (both primary) they would appear as /dev/hda1 and /dev/hda2 Linux, unlike MS-Win can have up to four Primary partitions on a hard drive, therefore, any logical drives in an extended partition will start their numbering from five. It is not therefore unusual to see on a multi-partition MS-Win system, /dev/hda1 /dev/hda5 /dev/hda6 for example. This would be the first primary partition (/dev/hda1) and two more logical partitions within the extended partition (/dev/hda5 and /dev/hda6).

SATA drives are very similar, but are recognised in Linux as being SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) drives. The “h” is replaced by a “s”, so /dev/hda1 becomes /dev/sda1

Floppy drives become /dev/fd0 and if you have two /dev/fd1 (note the “0” and “1” identifiers).

This clearly only scratches the surface of this complex subject, but hopefully offers enough information for you to be able to identify the drive you wish to install Linux on.

It also leads me to another difference in the Linux world. You will notice above, I have used “forward slashes” (/) throughout. In the main (though not exclusively) / is used in commands.

If you've stayed with me this far, give yourself a pat on the back and go an make a cup of tea! Clearly you have enough interest to maybe try out a Linux distro and provided you are willing to keep an open mind, you will discover the power of open source software.

Recommended distro.

Contrary to popular belief, I will introduce you to a way of trying Linux without installing anything on your computer. This method is widely known as a “Live Distro” runs totally from the CD/DVD. Many of the mainstream Linux vendors now offer this option. It is essential however, that I point out that this method (while great for evaluating a distro) will run a lot slower than a properly installed system. This is due to the requirement for the CD (or DVD) to be accessed for data while the system is being run, and that is a lot slower than an installed system. However, it is a guaranteed safe way to try Linux without leaving a trace on your machine.

With this in mind, I'm going to suggest you try PCLinuxOS available at http://www.pclinuxos.com/ you can also purchase CD's from http://on-disk.com ( I believe I read somewhere this site helps fund or donates funds to the Linux community).

This is a Live CD that compresses over 2GB of data on to a CD, so even if you don't have a DVD drive, it's not a problem. There are also a number of other (I believe) good reasons to suggest this distro. First, like almost all modern Linux distro's it has a stability that you will have never experienced in MS-Win. It also boasts a terrific hardware recognition library, that recognises all but the most obscure hardware, so installation should be a breeze. This is particularly relevant if you are trying it on a laptop, as it's wireless recognition is second to none.

Download the “iso” and burn it to a blank CD. Your particular burning program will explain how. If you know how to carry out a check-sum check, it's recommended to make sure you don't have a corrupted download.

In order to run the Live CD, you will need to make sure your computer can start up from a CD drive. This is done by adjusting your computers BIOS to make sure the first boot device is set to CD. Don't be frightened by this, it's a simple adjustment that can be done by anyone. If you're unfamiliar with the procedure, please read the following paragraph, otherwise feel free to skip it.

On initial boot-up, take a careful note of the writing on your screen. Somewhere will be the equivalent of “Press Delete to enter setup”. It may not be delete, but could be a “F” key or something else, but whatever it is, keep tapping the key until you enter the BIOS setup screens. Look for something similar to “Advanced BIOS Features” and select it. (The bottom of the screen will tell you how to navigate around the BIOS, but it's often the “arrows” and “page up/down” keys that make the appropriate adjustments). Select your “First boot device” to “CDROM” and then “save and exit”. If you get scared, Esc will take you out and unless you tell the BIOS to make changes, no changes will be made. Esc also takes you back to the main menu once you have made your adjustments. Don't be tempted to change anything else in there unless you know exactly what you're doing.

Now place your live CD in the drive and re-boot the machine. You may have to hit “Enter” if your particular computer requires it to boot from the CD. Just follow the on screen menus (your mouse should be active) clicking on the appropriate settings. Invariably, the defaults should be OK if you're unsure.

You will finally get to a log-in screen where you have two options; “root” or “guest”. You will see on the screen the password for “root” is root and you've guessed it, for “guest” is guest. If you end up installing the system, you will choose your own (hopefully) complex passwords for each account. On a proper installation, multiple accounts can be set; one (or more) for each family member if you so wish.

"root" can be considered the equivalent of the Administrators account in MS-Win, but is far, far more powerful. As a general rule, it is not good practice to log in as root. It is only used when specific system adjustments are to be made and then with great caution.

"guest" will do you just fine and providing the system found your network or Internet connection, will give you access to the Internet via Firefox. You can also explore the other pre-loaded programs such as Open Office (on which this has been written).

Finally, I should also mention there are thousands more free programs available via the "Synaptic" package manager if you choose to install the system properly. Almost anything you want to do on a computer, is available in Linux via the click of a button.

Have fun!